Sucker Bet Read Free Page A

name?"
    "No."
    "Have you met him in person before?"
    "No."
    "Where did you meet him online?"
    "A special-interest loop. We were supposed to meet here at ten."
    "Whose idea was that?"
    "Well, meeting in person was mine. To meet here was his idea."
    What guy suggests meeting on a monorail platform when there were nine thousand bars, restaurants, and casinos in spitting distance? One up to no freakin' good, that's who. The blonde was definitely stereotypically dumb to have agreed to do something so dangerous. "And you didn't see him when you got off the train?"
    "I don't think so. But really, how would I know? I've never seen him before."
    Nate let loose with the sigh he'd been stifling. "I mean, did you make contact with him?"
    "Oh. No."
    "So how do you know Slash87 isn't the guy posing for his final portrait over there?" Nate jerked his thumb toward the crime tape and the flash from the camera over the body.
    She blanched. "Oh, God, I don't know. I never thought of that. Do you think
that's
Slash? How horrible."
    Nate studied her expression. The horror looked genuine enough. But something about this woman didn't add up for him. "Were you here for a date? What were your plans for after you met up tonight?"
    "We didn't exactly have plans. He just said he was going to be in town, and I suggested meeting up to chat. He gave the time and place. I guess I figured we would go grab coffee or something."
    Human beings were so damn exhausting. Nate glared at her, hoping she would understand the severity of what she'd done. "Do me a favor. Don't agree to meet strange men you don't know from Adam in dark monorail stations by yourself, alright? It's just a bad idea all around."
    "I didn't think…" She frowned a little. "I mean, I'm really quite good at taking care of myself."
    "I can tell." Nate rolled his eyes. "What if you'd been a few minutes early? That might be you behind the ticket machine."
    Her chin tilted up and he could tell he'd offended her. "I don't think so."
    "Yeah, whatever, keep telling yourself that. You're damn lucky, Gwenna Carrick, that you're standing there curling your lip at me instead of on your way to the morgue." It infuriated him that she was being stubborn, that she'd been so stupid. She looked about as strong as his grandmother, an easy target, and yet was so nonchalant about risking her own safety. Didn't she get that there was one chance in life? That it could be gone instantly and that one little mistake could waste you?
    Selfish, that's what it was, when people just strolled around acting invincible, taking risks for no reason.
    "I'm fine."
    He scoffed. "So what is this online special-interest group? Who joined first, you or Slash?"
    "Slash. And it's a paranormal group."
    "What the hell does that mean? Like you believe in ghosts and crap?"
    "Not exactly. More like…" She glanced away. "Vampires."
    "Excuse me?" He'd heard her, he was just hoping he was wrong.
    "It's a group that believes in vampires. And well, likes to pretend they're vampire slayers."
    "Nice. So you and Slash are pretend slayers? Were you meeting to stake someone?" More likely Slash was hoping to impale Gwenna with his personal stake. Any guy who spent all his time online pretending to be Buffy's male counterpart was probably not getting a whole lot of action.
    "We were meeting because the slayers are going to be getting together in Vegas and I wanted to help Slash plan it."
    "Oh, like a slayers' convention? Fun. So you're on the planning and decorating committee?"
    "You don't have to make fun of me." She rubbed her arms a little and looked over his shoulder. "And if that is Slash over there it's highly insensitive of you to mock what is a harmless hobby."
    "You're right. I apologize." While it still sounded seriously geeky to him, he had to remember that she wasn't exposed to violence the way he was. He could compartmentalize, dissociate from the victim, but it would be different for her. That was possibly a guy she'd chatted with, felt